I am CERTIFIED by DONA!

I'm so excited, I just got the call. Certified! I'm thrilled and relieved. And I am NOT cooking tonight, we are going OUT! I will be sure that my client, due 8/20, knows that she is getting a bargain because I was hired at the "trained" rate instead of the "certified" rate :)

DONA certification application!

I just got back from a breastfeeding class at West Penn, taught by Bob Monteverde, IBCLC. And you all know what THAT means. Oh wait, you don't? Well. That means that my DONA certification application is COMPLETE. I am making copies of everything and mailing that sucker tomorrow morning. Only took, what, a year and a half? Badger was 3 months at my doula training, and he's now 21 months. So yeah. A long time! Please keep your fingers crossed my application is accepted!

Planted our garden today, and a busy day tomorrow!

I'm not really a gardener. But we have this horrible yard that isn't ever going to grow grass, so we turned it over and I planted vegetables on the sunny side and wildflowers from a can on the shady side. I know it's a little late in the season but... well, we've had a busy spring. I planted watermelon, cantaloupe, 2 kinds of onions, broccoli, 3 kinds of peppers, Swiss chard, zucchini, carrots, and peas. Oh, and in containers on my front porch I have leaf lettuce, basil, mint, coriander, thyme, and tomatoes (the tomato plant is about 2" big so we will see if anything comes of it).

Bon appetit, deer!

And my June client is going to be induced tomorrow so I will have a busy day. She's a great woman and it'll be a pleasure to work with her and her husband -- they make a great pair.

AND, on Saturday I will be observing (and assisting) in a childbirth class... thus fulfilling all my requirements for DONA certification except the essays! Hopefully I can get it all sent out next week! I feel like I started so long ago... Badger was just 3 months old when I attended my training.

Speaking of whom... we think he said a WORD. We think he is saying baa-baa for BALL. He is also signing "more." I guess it's like when you take your car to the mechanic because it's making a funny noise and then it stops... before we are even scheduled for his first speech therapy session, he makes a few nice steps :) I'm certainly not complaining.

Post Partum Doulas

I'm in the process of deciding whether or not to take postpartum doula training. I confess I'm not quite sure what the job description is, since it will vary so much. It would be nice to increase my skill set and I'm sure that a lot of the baby care stuff would inform my work as a birth doula in the immediate postpartum period.

Here's CAPPA's definition of postpartum doulas:
CAPPA

A postpartum doula is a woman who assists the new mother, baby, and the rest of her family within the first few weeks after the birth of the baby.

I could probably swing that, eh?

Doula Certification

I'm gathering up my paperwork for certification through DONA. I want to be able to send it all off after I've completed my childbirth education series in March and attend my client (edd 3/15) so I have yet another birth from which to choose to submit for consideration.

It's exciting to be approaching this milestone! Hopefully all the paperwork will be in order and the childbirth education classes are appropriate, the births satisfy the requirements, and that my essays are good enough. I had hoped to get my paperwork in by Badger's first birthday but that didn't come close to happening -- I hadn't even attended one birth that would have counted.